AUSTIN — Latino advocates and lawmakers called on Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday to reject the proposed census citizenship question and join other states in suing the federal government.

The census, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau once every 10 years, is supposed to count everyone who lives in the United States for purposes such as allocating congressional seats and distributing federal funds. The bureau also conducts the annual American Community Survey, gathering more information than it asks for on the regular census.

At a news conference Wednesday, Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, criticized the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to ask people for their citizenship status on census forms. The bureau delivered its planned questions to Congress on Thursday, including the one about citizenship.

The problem isn’t partisan, it’s policy, he said. Texas received $43 billion from federal funds in 2015 based on census-guided data and stands to lose up three congressional seats if the state’s population isn’t accurately counted.

“Texas has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country and Texas stands to lose big,” Blanco said. “If Texas is undercounted, the bottom line is Texas loses. Our businesses lose, our communities lose, our families lose. This isn’t about politics. This is about getting Texas its fair share of resources.”

Rep. Mary González, vice chairwoman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, said that as a state leader, she does not want Texans to fear the government, and as a policymaker, she’s concerned about the loss of funding an undercount of Latinos and immigrants might cause. Texas receives billions of dollars for programs such as Head Start and the school lunch program, both which are critical for Texas children, the Clint Democrat said.

“Politics and anti-immigrant rhetoric are putting our children in danger,” González said.

mobile-only dfpPosition1

Ann Beeson, CEO of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, said if the data isn’t accurate, her organization and elected officials can’t use it to recommend or implement policies.

Abbott, who returns Friday from a nine-day trade mission in India, has not commented on the proposed question. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seems unlikely to join California and other states that are suing the federal government for including this question — in February, First Assistant Attorney General Jeff Mateer asked the Census Bureau to include it.

Mateer claimed in his letter that the census included a citizenship question from 1970 to 2000 without any problem. According to NPR, the bureau used to send out a short form and a long form. Every household got the short form, which did not ask about citizenship. Only 1 in 6 households got the long form, which did. The long-form questionnaire was replaced by the American Community Survey in 2010.

Sen. Ted Cruz praised the decision to add the question Tuesday. He released a joint statement with Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, in which he said the senators asked the Commerce Department to include the citizenship question to "gather more accurate data on the number of U.S. citizens" living in the country.

“It is imperative that the data gathered in the census is reliable, given the wide-ranging impacts it will have on U.S. policy,” Cruz said.

Jessica Azua of the Texas Organizing Project credits the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young immigrants from deportation, for allowing her to remain in her San Antonio hometown.

“I am here to tell Trump he is not going to win,” she said. “I am not afraid of him or of his immigrant-hating supporters. My family and I will answer the census. We will not answer the citizenship question. I will urge everyone who can hear my voice to not answer the citizenship question.”

“We are united in our resistance. Texans do not give into Trump’s hate.”

Jackie Wang. Jackie reports from the Austin bureau of the Dallas Morning News.
Before that, she reported on drinking water quality for News21, and has worked at The Texas Tribune, the Austin American-Statesman, the El Paso Times and The Daily Texan. She has a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin.